The Linc – Deebo Samuel says Philly fans aren’t as loud as the 49ers’ crowd

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 1/26/23.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Mel Kiper’s first mock draft has two picks for the Eagles’ defense – BGN
It’s tough to figure out if Hargrave will be back or not. On one hand, the Eagles definitely value interior defenders. Especially when they offer pass rush ability. And with Fletcher Cox also set to be a free agent, would the Eagles really let both of them walk? On the other hand, Hargrave turns 30 in February and it feels like the team would’ve signed him to an extension by now if he was in the plans. The Eagles typically don’t let core players enter contract years like they have with Hargrave. Whether he is back or not, the Eagles might very well look to add more talent on their defensive line. Howie Roseman is never averse to doing that. Kancey kind of fits the Hargrave mold as a relatively smaller DT with good athletic testing numbers. The Pitt alumnus made Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” ahead of the 2022 college football season. He was ranked ninth overall.

NFC East Mixtape Vol.96: Eagles to the title game | Cowboys/Giants out – BGN Radio
RJ Ochoa, Brandon Lee Gowton and special guest Rob “Stats” Guerrera recap the 49ers win against the Cowboys in the divisional round and look ahead to the title game between the Eagles and 49ers on Sunday.

Eagles vs. 49ers: Five matchups to watch, when the 49ers have the ball – PhillyVoice
5) Can someone make Brock Purdy pay for his mistakes? Since taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance as the Niners’ starting quarterback, Brock Purdy is 6-0 (if you count the game he inherited a deficit, but won) in the regular season, and 2-0 in the playoffs. During that run, he has thrown 16 TDs vs 3 INTs, and he has a quarterback rating of 111.4. He has been everything the 49ers could have reasonably hoped for, and more. He has also been extremely fortunate that a whole bunch of off-target passes that he has thrown have found their way to the ground instead of into the arms of opposing defenders. But beyond the dropped INTs, a couple of things stand out about his game. The first thing is that he is a small quarterback. He is only 6’0 5/8” with 29” arms and 9 1/4” hands. Those measurements are all well below average.

The Five Things That Explain the Eagles’ Success – The Ringer
Put all of these things together, and it’s not hard to understand why the Eagles are in the NFC championship game for the seventh time since 2001—the most appearances by any team in the conference during that span. Text threads among fans this week will be filled with links from national media types who are picking the 49ers. The fact that the Eagles are now the favorites to win the Super Bowl likely won’t gain a lot of traction locally. That’s not a comfortable headspace to be in for this group. Having said that, there is a segment of the fan base that swears it’s been cured by the Super Bowl win at the end of the 2017 season. Those fans can now approach games like this one with confidence, believing wholeheartedly that the Eagles are going to come through for them. For another faction, that’s just never going to be possible. Sure, 2017 was great. But what about the ghosts of Ricky Manning Jr. and Ronde Barber and Joe Jurevicius? Those memories will never be erased. The hope within the organization has to be that this is the start of something. But the truth is NFL teams never really know when the window is open. Most within the Eagles organization did not expect them to win a Super Bowl five years ago. Then they did, and it felt like the window would stay wide open. Over the next four years, they went 31-33-1 and failed to get past the divisional round. They fired Doug Pederson and traded Wentz. Because of the strength of the roster, the influx of young talent, and Hurts’s makeup, this feels more sustainable. But as Hurts might say, nothing is guaranteed. Right now, it’s just about keeping that window open for two more weeks.

Game Review – Playoffs – PHI 38, NYG 7 – Iggles Blitz
Jalen Hurts sure didn’t look like an injured QB. He went 16-24-154 with a pair of TDs. He ran 9 times for 34 yards and a TD. This version of Hurts is what the Eagles need to win it all. He threw the ball well. He made smart decisions. Hurts showed no fear as a runner. He was smart about getting down or out of bounds when possible, but fought for yards when he needed to. More than anything, this was a smart performance. There were some good throws. His deep ball to Smith was accurate and had good touch. That ball was in the air about 40 yards. Hurts had a good throw to Goedert for a gain of 23. That throw was right on the money. There was a quick screen to Smith for a TD. Simple play, but not an easy throw. Hurts put good velocity on the ball and put it right where Smith needed it. Maybe his best throw came on an out to Smith, but the pass was dropped. Tough play, but really impressive throw to even have a chance.

Best and worst free-agent signings in 2022 – PFF
The craziest thing about Haason Reddick’s contract from last offseason is that the price tag was kept so reasonable despite the fact he was coming off back-to-back double-digit sack seasons. If there’s one thing you can count on some teams to do each offseason, it’s overpaying for sack production where underlying metrics aren’t as favorable. That wasn’t the case with Reddick, who was consistently winning pass rush reps over the prior two seasons once he was finally moved back to edge rusher full-time, and one of the sharpest organizations in the NFL seemed to take advantage of teams’ apprehension due to Reddick’s lack of size. All Reddick did was earn a career-high 90.0 pass rush grade, finishing top-15 among edge defenders in pass rush win rate (18.9%) and pressure percentage (15.9%), while his 16 sacks ranked second and six forced fumbles ranked first in the NFL. In one of the greatest single offseasons a team has had in the modern era, this signing stands out.

Fantasy Football QB-WR Stacks: Top DraftKings NFL DFS Quarterback-Wide Receiver Picks for Championship Round – DraftKings Nation
2. Jalen Hurts ($7,200) / A.J. Brown ($7,000), Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Francisco 49ers. Hurts was playing pitch and catch with his receivers in the first half against the Giants last week, and could have easily gone for 35+ DKFP had the G-Men done close to anything on the offensive end. Philly leaned extremely run heavy in the second half, so Hurts had to settle for 23.56 DKFP performance. That’s not going to fly this week against a loaded San Francisco offense. While most metrics would point to the 49ers defense as being elite, they are still extremely vulnerable to opposing wide receievers. This was evidenced again last week by CeeDee Lamb, who posted 10 catches for 117 yards on them. On the year, the 49ers have allowed the fifth most DKFP to opposing wide outs, which does not bode well for them with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith up next. Lately it’s been Smith as the featured guy for Jalen Hurts, but Brown should absolutely not go overlooked, as he’s got one of the highest ceilings at the position in the NFL. Most people will gravitate towards the former this week considering he’s both cheaper and coming off a nice game against the Giants. The Eagles traded for Brown this past offseason for this exact reason, and he’s now got the chance to lead them to the Super Bowl. I would expect him to get fed early and often in this game after getting only six targets last week. We have also seen Philly lean pass heavy at times this year when the matchup has dictated it, and it most certainly does this week, making both Hurts and Brown phenomenal plays on this two-game slate.

49ers used Week 15 at Seattle to prepare for possible playoff game at Philadelphia – PFT
“We’ll do the same thing we did that week,” Shanahan said. “That was huge just because that was our first game really all year that it was that important and Brock hadn’t had experience with it and so it was great to have that, especially with us going to Philly. I remember I was talking about that that week that we needed that. We needed that rep in case we ended up in the NFC Championship at Philly and we got that and very fortunate that we did. And I feel we’re good to go. He knows what to expect, he knows how we do it and we’ll give him reps at it all week, but he got it ready on just a Wednesday when he played Thursday, so I feel like won’t be an issue this week.” Shanahan added that, to simulate the noise in Philly, they’ll crank up the music in practice this week. “When we played Seattle that week, [Shanahan] did say it was good preparation for what we might have to play in, in terms of the playoffs, going on the road for road games and obviously for Philadelphia,” Purdy said. “Everything in these kinds of games is all about communication. How can you operate smoothly, get in and out of the huddle, get the play off in the right way, make sure everyone’s on the same page, so that’s definitely a big emphasis this week just at practice with the little things, the details of communicating and being on point. And that starts with the cadence, so it’s going to be huge for us.”

Spadaro: This is what the NFC Championship Game should be – PE.com
“I have a lot of respect for the 49ers, but I think we’re really good, too,” said wide receiver A.J. Brown, a key addition to the team in the 2022 offseason. “We’ve grown together all season and we like the way we’re playing. There is always room for improvement. We know that. We know we have to be at the top of our game on Sunday and I think that’s a challenge that everyone accepts and embraces.” Said tight end Dallas Goedert: “(Center Jason) Kelce probably says it best – you’ve got to continue to be you, but at the same time, you’ve got to prepare harder, you’ve got to pay attention to the little details, you’ve got to find an edge. At this time, with four teams left, you’ve going to be playing against good players, against good schemes. It’s always going to be good.” From the Eagles’ standpoint, as they prepare for Sunday, the focus is every bit about what the offense does well, rather than how much teams have struggled to move the ball against San Francisco. What they do on that side of the ball, with such a talented group that has played together long enough to master Coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ scheme is admirable and there is 100 percent respect for that. But when you’re good, as the Eagles are on offense, you proceed from a position of strength.

Nick Sirianni explains why he’s always been obnoxious – NBCSP
“It was right in my face,” Sirianni said with a laugh Wednesday when asked about it. “I was juiced, we were up a couple scores and it was like right there. I don’t know. It’s the first thing that came to my mind. I guess that’s who I am.” Sirianni has never said anything more true. That’s exactly who he is. Sirianni is that guy you’ll go to the end of the Earth for if he’s on your side but you just want to stomp his face if he’s not. Whether he’s screaming at opposing fans in the stands or yelling at a Giants fan on a South Jersey tennis court, he’s just not going to hide his emotions. That’s his personality, and he’s not going to change anytime soon.

Shanahan on Omenihu: We feel very good about letting the legal process play out by itself – Niners Nation
I re-watched the game and noticed that McCaffrey wasn’t anywhere near 100 percent. I’m used to seeing him run away from defenders, and that wasn’t the case. McCaffrey still separated on underneath routes, but his burst was noticeably absent. Regarding Deebo, Shanahan said, “I think he’ll be alright, but it concerned us enough to keep him out for today.”

Brock Purdy, Jalen Hurts, and a Saturday night in Oklahoma – SB Nation
Before Brock Purdy became Mr. Irrelevant. Before Jalen Hurts became an MVP candidate. Before those two young quarterbacks ever dreamed of meeting in an NFC Championship Game. They were a pair of Big 12 passers, meeting on a Saturday night in Norman, Oklahoma. The date was November 9, 2019. The Oklahoma Sooners were the ninth-ranked team in the nation, led by Hurts, the transfer from Alabama. Yet Oklahoma was coming off a loss to Kansas State in their previous game, a defeat that dropped them out of the top five in the rankings. On the other side of the field? An Iowa State team with Purdy at the helm. A sophomore at the time, Purdy entered his freshman season for the Cyclones as the third-string quarterback but took over as the starter early in the year. 2019 was his first full season under center for Iowa State. But the Cyclones entered the game with a 5-3 record that included losses to Iowa, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. For a while, it looked like the Sooners would cruise to a victory.

The realistic answer for the Cowboys this offseason is to not move on from QB Dak Prescott, but help him – Blogging The Boys
There is a sentiment among some that the team needs to move on from Prescott and either trade for, or draft a QB, this upcoming offseason. However, it is nearly impossible financially for the team to move on from Prescott. His contract was actually designed in a way that the front office could choose to extend Prescott to earn some cap relief the upcoming season.

Giants’ free agents: Which offensive players should the Giants bring back? – Big Blue View
QB Daniel Jones — The cat is already out of the bag on this one, and I’m not going to waste a lot of words here. The Giants intend to keep Jones. The question is how much it will cost. Verdict — The Giants are keeping him, and I’m fine with that. The real curiosity is going to be what sort of deal eventually gets done. RB Saquon Barkley — Barkley had a terrific season, but more reminiscent of his 2019 sophomore season than his Superman-like 2018 rookie season. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry, third-best of his career and 5.9 yards per reception, lowest of his career. His 1,650 total yards from scrimmage were his best since his rookie year, and he did not miss a game due to injury. In my view, he might not be the incredibly explosive Barkley of 2018 any longer, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t explosive. Barkley also showed more ability and willingness to fight for what Pat Shurmur used to all “dirty yards” than he has in the past. Verdict — The Giants want Barkley back. I would like to see Barkley come back. It would be hard for the Giants to field a more talented team in 2023 if Barkley isn’t part of it. Schoen was clear on Monday, though, that the Giants are not breaking the bank to make it happen. They will do it on their terms, within what they believe is the financial value they want to assign to the position, or it won’t happen. If Barkley wants Christian McCaffrey money ($16M annually) he is going to have to find it somewhere else.

The Washington Commanders are interviewing Rams Assistant HC/TE Coach Thomas Brown today for OC job – Hogs Haven
Washington has officially interviewed three candidates for their offensive coordinator position. Scott Turner, who had been the team’s OC for all three of Ron Rivera’s years as head coach in Washington, was fired after the season. John Keim reports that the team will be adding two more names to their interview list next week. It was previously reported that the team was interested in Miami Dolphins Assistant Head Coach/RB Coach Eric Studesville. Keim also reported a new name, Los Angeles Rams Assistant Head Coach/TE Coach Thomas Brown, who is expected to interview for the position next week. Brown has also received interest from the Houston Texans for their open head coaching job this year. He joined Sean McVay’s coaching staff in 2020 as the Rams running backs coach. He was promoted to an assistant head coach after just one year coaching at the NFL level. This season he switched to coaching tight ends, adding experience with coaching multiple positions on the offense.

QB Salary Cap Charges and the Playoffs – Over The Cap
With the exits from the playoffs of Josh Allen and Dak Prescott this past weekend along with the rumored trade of Aaron Rodgers, there has been more and more discussion about the ability to win and how much the QB earns. We do some work on playoff roster analysis so I thought I could throw a quick post together looking at the top earner for each team in a given season (so not the spend on the entire QB room, just the top player) and how much that salary cap level made the playoffs. For this post I looked at the last five seasons and determined what QB had the highest salary cap charge for a team. That might not mean that the player was the starter, just that this was what the team budgeted at the top level for the highest earning position on the team. Each cap number was then adjusted to be a percentage of that years unadjusted salary cap. The players were then binned by cap percentage 0-1%, 1-3%, 3-5% and so on. Finally, I grouped the teams into playoff and non-playoff teams.

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